KERRY’S AFL STAR Mark O’Connor has revealed that he would have been available to line out for the county if they had progressed to last month’s Munster senior football final.
Geelong Cats player O’Connor had been in action in Australia up until 24 October when he lined out in the AFL Grand Final as his club lost out to Richmond Tigers.
The 2015 All-Ireland minor winning captain then returned home and he outlined in an interview on Radio Kerry’s Terrace Talk programme last night that he had received clearance to link up with the Kerry senior setup.
The Dingle native had to quarantine when coming home to Ireland and that had not elapsed in time for the match against Cork when a dramatic last-gasp goal from Mark Keane saw the Rebels dump the Kingdom out of the 2020 championship.
“It was obviously very disappointing for Kerry”, said O’Connor.
“I was watching it myself. It’s funny I had actually got the permission from Geelong to play but I was in quarantine for the Cork game so I obviously would have been able to do it then.
“Yeah I would have been available if they had got through but look that’s just unfortunate, it’s the way sport works.”
O’Connor watched other AFL players make a major impact on the Munster championship with Collingwood’s Keane scoring that winning goal for Cork while Sydney Swans player Colin O’Riordan subsequently helped Tipperary end an 85-year wait for provincial senior football glory.
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